2020 Democratic presidential primary

There was some mild talk about Harris last year that resulted in a similar freak out

Lol yes, every bit of criticism and scrutiny amounts to a freak out w you ppl.

The Sirota stuff can’t be called honest vetting. That kind of got exposed. It’s particularly transparent when he was saying Beto should be speaker two weeks earlier and then suddenly starts w an oppo blitz

All of these people have problems. I’m voting Trump.

The Speaker is not the President IIRC

Yeah no the tenor of the criticism isn’t “we’ll still like him but he’s not ready” it’s “we decided he’s an evil centrist overnight”

What is the center point between the moderate social democracy of the democrat’s “progressive wing” and the extremist death cult of the modern GOP? Does it make any sense at all to be wary of universal healthcare, say, or taking bold action to save the planet from climate change and renew our infrastructure in the process? Why give that hp to be closer the the death cult?

The whole conversation is weird to me because the “left wing” solutions to our serious problems seem like the obvious ones. There’s no moderate line on addressing police brutality—there needs to be accountability and reform. Same with every other makor issue. The form of politics we were practicing—which led to things like the absurd bank bailout—has reached its endpoint. It’s not a sustainable game.

I’m supporting the primary candidate who has shown that they grasp this.

The thing is centrism IS effectively evil at this point for those reasons and that's why I don't mind people being vigilant in opposition to it

It’s a meme-y buzzword for attacking democrats.

Are Democrats your dad

Haha that’s really cool.

Are Democrats your daddy?

I’ve gotten multiple direct mailings from John Delaney, the most recent indicating he for sure is targeting the primary

I am not even completely sure what his deal is, but the material is very wtf

like the first one is “if you want a guy to take on Trump..” and is a partial reprint of a friggin George Will column

that is who he is targeting I guess, very early primary voters registered Democrats who don’t know what George Will is

treesh and simon otm

I am not voting for another hetero white man for office for the rest of my life.

I'm voting for the Democrat literally no matter how bad they are for the rest of my life, and urging others to do the same, and repenting daily of my once-deeply-held "it has to be a candidate I'm excited about" position

^^this is also the position held by...let's say at least 90% of those who are brutally critical of establishment Dems. (barring of course the formation of an actually viable third party, which really would not be the wildest thing to ever happen)

yeah, r&f Dems can be taken for granted

that's why we get such a bounty from the Dems

hoping yerac and joanie keep getting variations of Dianne Feinstein

Happy Holidays to you too!

xp joan rivers, i will vote for the democrat enthusiastically no matter who it was, as i did for hillary. but in the primaries i want someone who isn't afraid to say what needs to be done.

I can't imagine any good reason to take offence to the Osita Nwanenu thread NP linked, especially when read in full. He even rejects the "Beto couldn't even beat Cruz" low blow (which I absolutely would not) and pisses off Bernie fans by mentioning he didn't vote for him in the primary

What a novel argument we're having!

can anyone even tell me who John Delaney is, without looking it up, because his promo material is vague on this

he's the hot one from s club 7

he's a stand-up comedian; voice of Peter Porker Spider-Ham and occasionally in a double-act with Nick Kroll

wait no

i'm writing in uncle kracker

uncle kracker can connect to the white working class

I strongly suspect, though I can't prove, that this is a fair summation of what many left-leaning liberals feel re this whole mess

The Bernie people people in my cohort basically land on “I wish he wasn’t so old and crotchety but he’s the most vocal about income inequality and Medicare for all, so.” If another candidate signals a concrete commitment to those issues I feel like he/she will eat Bernie’s lunch.

— Will Isenberg (@Wiloceraptor) December 24, 2018

add in something there about climate justice of course

How have they not gone to Elisabeth Warren already, then?

The only thing she's been visible for over the last while (iirc) was that DNA fracas we'd all rather forget about, but I wouldn't rule out her eating into his base if they both run and she never ever brings it up again

I like his oldness and crochety-ness honestly.

And the new york accent. He seems more like someone I’d know irl—like a friend of my uncle’s or something.

I am disappointed he's not more religious tbh

I felt bad about how people piled on to attack her over the dna test since it was well meaning but there’s something to be said for not letting your adversary define the terms of the debate. Makes me think a lot of people question her instincts re:optics because of it.

I agree with that. Idk how she'll handle it if Trump opens up a copy of Pow Wow Chow at a rally (assuming he can read)

the DNA test thing was a misstep, but obviously not something that will prevent any reasonable person from voting for her on its own. I thought this masha gessen essay was the best thing I'd read about it at the time: https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/elizabeth-warren-falls-for-trumps-trap-and-promotes-insidious-ideas-about-race-and-dna

I'll take "Whoever" plz. Not looking forward to a high-drama Dem primary because I think the policy implications aren't that different no matter who it is and I dread all my liberal/lefty friends squaring off in a purity-vs-realism contest and know I will vote for them regardless, probably even if they are revealed as an actual lizard person.

fwiw I have voted for the likes of Bill Bradley and Barack Obama in presidential primaries

any reasonable person

Insert quote from Adlai Stevenson about needing a majority here

fwiw I have voted for the likes of Bill Bradley and Barack Obama in presidential primaries

Me too. I voted for Dean in '04. I voted for Nader in '00. I can be swayed by appeals to socialism, populism, protest, and just plain competence, depending on the circumstances. I have no idea who I might vote for in the 2020 primary, but I mostly fear self-defeating rhetoric about how this or that candidate is too much this or not enough that. The bottom line is you get at best to choose between D and R -- disappointment and revulsion -- and I will vote for disappointment no matter who's carrying that banner.

the primaries are all about choosing the best disappointment to vote for tho, a separate conversation than the general

I suspect that the wag who thinks the DNA affair matters is also a person who wishes Tim Russert still lived.

DNA affair was really egregious, stupid, and offensive imo

and could have been avoided if Warren had talked to some Native Americans? or been even minimally au fait with the discourse around identity and tribal citizenship

As NP said, only "important" for what it says about her judgment